On the Fence II: Aftermath
by MelodicSunshine
Summary: A direct sequel to On the Fence. After figuring out about the tragedy involving Pearl, everybody has their own personal troubles to share, along with some regrets.
1. chapter 1

The sun set peacefully amongst Beach City. Greg Universe napped quietly in the comfort of his van, his loud snoring being the only noise in the vehicle. He had no dreams this night, which was actually a relief. Lately, he had been plagued with nightmares that seemed to constantly gnaw at him from the moment he woke up to the moment he would try sleeping once more. They were always a blur when he woke up, be he always felt a sense of dread soon after. However, even with the lack of night terrors, he still did not wake peacefully from his slumber. A loud knock from the van doors jolted him awake, and he sat up.

Stretching, he opened the van doors, only to see Garnet and Amethyst standing before him. He yawned.

"Oh, hey Garnet, Amethyst." He said with a small wave. He managed to put on a tired smile, but they didn't smile back. In fact, they had a face of dread plastered on their faces, and it kind of uneased him.

"I'm sorry, but we have to tell you something." Garnet said, her usually monotonous voice replaced with one of sadness.

To ease the tone, Greg reached for his guitar behind him and plucked a few nonsense notes before looking back up at them.

"What do you mean? Did something happen to the house?" He asked. He was okay with the damage of the house, since he didn't really live in it.

"No, man. It's really important." Amethyst finally spoke.

"If there is bad news I would've thought Pearl would tell me. In fact, where is Pearl?" He questioned. Pearl always seemed to handle bad news more.

The two gems gritted their teeth and their looks changed, making them appear even sadder.

"And come to think of it, where's Steven? Is he with Pearl?"

"Amethyst? Garnet?"

"In a way, yes, they are together." Garnet said inbetween the silence.

"Well, where are they? How have they been? I've been itching to show Steven this song I've been workin' my butt on." He smiled and started playing a tune on his guitar, before Amethyst put her hand on Greg's shoulder, making him stop.

"Greg. I don't know how I'm gonna explain this to you, but... Steven is... dead." The purple gem confessed.

Ten horribly long seconds passed.

"W-what?" Greg stuttered, putting down his guitar and sitting up.

"Steven is gone. Something happened, and he's dead."

Another few seconds passed, before the silence was soon broken from loud laughter.

"Hahaha!" he laughed, leaning backwards and clutching his stomach. "Great joke, Amethyst, it must've been hard to get Garnet in on this! Haha!"

"Greg."

His laughing continued.

"Greg!"

The laughter died down into chuckles, but still carried on.

"Listen!" A hard smack sound was heard as Garnet slapped him back into reality. She seemed discontented, as she had on a face of anger, yet despair could be seen in her eyes, even through her glasses.

"Steven is dead. He is dead, dead, dead! And you think this is a joke?!" She snapped. Greg's eyes changed from lightheartedness to concern.

"He's... Steven... dead?" He questioned himself, before his eyes started to tear up.

"Look," Amethyst started. "Pearl and Steven were assigned to go on a mission and--"

"I knew it." Greg muttered.

"Huh?"

"I knew it!" he yelled, tears now rolling freely down his cheeks. "I knew it would be from some crazy mission! I knew he would get hurt! It isn't safe with you gems! I knew he would get hurt, but I dreaded the day where he would be killed. You just-- I--!" His angry shouts turned into loud sobs.

Nobody dared to speak, they didn't want to interrupt Mr. Universe's cries of loss. After he managed to quiet his sobs, he muttered something else under his breath.

"Please tell me... it was quick and painless." He begged. "Please tell me he wasn't in any pain! Please!"

"We're sorry." Garnet interjected. "But Steven had major injuries from a gem beast. We arrived too late, and he could not be saved." She let out a few tears as well, and so did Amethyst.

"What?! You let him go on a mission by himself?!"

"No!" Amethyst tried to explain. "Pearl was with him, but--" She stopped. Could she really explain that Pearl basically left Steven to die? How would this affect him. She swallowed, and continued.

"Pearl was with him. After he was attacked by the beast, she left him there. He was in pretty bad shape. He was sputtering blood like a fountain, and we couldn't do anything when she told us about it, 'cause after we arrived he was already too far gone."

"So Pearl... killed Steven." He said after he understood. He repeated that phrase over and over, and it stuck to his brain like a tumor.

Greg stared down at his hands, and he clenched them into fists. He stood up and started running towards the beach house.

"I'm going to kill Pearl!" He said with a shriek, bolting towards the sandy beach. The two gems tried yelling for him, and chased after him. But he had already made it to the house.

He made it to the door, but it was locked. He banged on the glass, hoping that somehow it would open. With every hit to the door, he loud out a loud yell, bringing emphasis to his anger.

"Pearl! Pearl! Pearl! Pearl!" He repeated the gem's name, before he began getting tired and soon started crying once more in defeat.

"Pearl... Pearl... Pearl..." He managed to breathe out before he closed his eyes out of exhaustion. He felt Garnet's hand on his shoulder.

"You should go to sleep, we will explain everything in the morning." She said. She tried using her future vision to see what would be the outcome of telling him the bad news, but even she couldn't see what would befall of Steven's father.

Greg nodded, and trudged slowly all the way back to his van. By this time the sun had already gone down and was replaced with pitch blackness. He opened the van doors and lied down. Amethyst left, as well as Garnet, to leave him to rest.

He closed his eyes, finally muttering a small "Steven..." Before his body succumbed to his tiredness.

Soon, the nightmares would come again.


	2. chapter 2

"Pearl!" Connie Maheswaran yelled in the seemingly empty house of the Crystal Gems. "I'm here for sword practice!" She said. She took out the sword in her bag and began swishing it around a few times, making sure she hadn't somehow forgotten her fighting moves overnight.

She had been a skilled fighter for quite some time, and it was no secret that she loved being taught by Pearl. She was a master swordsman-- err-- swordswoman. But the best practice was when she would fight alongside Steven, who was always excited to be by her side.

Thinking about Steven made Connie blush and smile to herself. Steven didn't know this, but Connie liked Steven. Not only as a friend and companion, but something more. Ever since they first met, something clicked inside her and she wanted to know more about him. As their friendship continued to blossom, all she could think about was hanging out with him. And they had been on plenty of adventures together. They were jam buds, best friends, and allies in the field of battle. What more could Connie want? Well, she could answer that question easily. She wanted Steven to be her partner.

"Pearl!" She called again, holding her hand up to her mouth to try and amplify her voice. Was she not home? And where were the other gems?

Suddenly, that question was answered when Garnet and Amethyst soon walked in, but something seemed off.

"Hey, guys! Have you seen Pearl? We were supposed to practice our fighting today. I was also planning to do some new techniques with Stevonnie." She said, her eyes lighting up with anticipation.

The two gems walked to the couch and sat down. Amethyst patted the spot next to her.

"Mind sitting down for a sec? We gotta tell ya something." The purple gem spoke.

"Oh, yeah, sure." Connie said awkwardly, putting the sword down and taking her seat on the couch.

"It's about Steven... and Pearl." Garnet said, pausing before uttering Pearl's name.

"Oh, it's alright if we can't practice right now. I understand. Are Pearl and Steven on a mission right now? When will they be coming back?" She asked.

"Connie," Garnet said, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "They won't be coming back. I'm sorry to tell you this, but Steven is dead."

The two gems sat, awkwardly waiting for a response from Connie. Surprisingly, she didn't say a word, instead putting her head down and covering her face. She did not cry, somehow, and spoke softly.

"He's dead?" She asked.

They both nodded, and Amethyst spoke up.

"I know it's hard to realize but--"

"I know, I know." Connie said, now letting a sob pass from her mouth. "I'm never going to see him again. How did he... you know?"

"Do you want me to tell you the entire story? Or do you want me to be short and sweet?" Garnet inquired, passing her a box of tissues.

"Tell me everything. Maybe it'll help me understand and come to terms." She said. The two gems wondered how Connie was so calm. Sure she was crying, but she still had a normal voice.

"Alright. Pearl told us this. It is hard to believe, but she planned to kill Steven. She had taken him with her on a mission, and he was attacked by a gem beast. He was in bad condition, but instead of helping, she just left him to die. We never thought Pearl would do something like this." Garnet explained.

"Why did she do this?" Connie asked, looking up at the red gem with teary eyes.

"She wanted to get revenge, at least that's what she said." Amethyst spoke. "She missed Rose a lot and thought that Steven took Rose away from her. She knew killing him wouldn't make her return, but it made her feel better to know that he was gone."

Connie sat there in complete shock. Pearl, the gem who had been training her for so long, had killed her best friend just because she was attached to his mother. But hadn't she gotten over her? And what did his father think?

"Where is Pearl?" She then asked, not that she wanted to see her. She couldn't face her even if she had to.

"You're not going to see her for a while. We had to make sure she wouldn't do this again, so we made her retreat into her gem, and then we bubbled her. We couldn't do something like shatter her. It wouldn't be morally right."

"You know what isn't morally right? Not taking revenge on Steven's killer!" Connie said while standing up, the sadness dissipating and turning into a feeling of anger. Tears streamed down her face. "Pearl killed Steven, left him to die! And you think it was wrong not to end her once and for all?! I thought she was a nice gem, that she would never do something like this, and she goes and kills him!"

"We know Steven was your best friend, but--"

"Best friend?! Best friend?! Steven and I were very close, and even though he never knew it, I-- I--" Connie stuttered. " I loved him! And now he's gone! Gone forever! And now I'll never be able to tell him how I feel. It's all Pearl's fault! And it's not just my life she ruined. Steven was close with nearly everyone in Beach City, everyone knew him! What will they think when they realize he's been left for dead by someone who was so close to him. I just can't believe that." She ended her sentence with a loud yell of pain, followed by more crying. The noise filled the room. If gems ears could be damaged, they would be by now.

Of course, Connie's tantrum caused the two gems to start crying along with her. Amethyst got up from the couch to hug her, as well as Garnet.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Amethyst apologized, holding on to the shaken girl in her arms. Garnet removed her glasses and revealed a steady stream of tears. Everybody hugged each other in grief.

Even if their losses were separate, at this moment they were closer than ever.


End file.
